Text Formatting Rules

(Content adapted from the OriginalWiki. Some features detailed below are not yet implemented in QwikWiki.)

For examples of how these rules are used, see TextFormattingExamples.

To experiment with the rules, please try editing the WikiWikiSandBox.

Paragraphs

• Don't Indent paragraphs
• Words wrap and fill as needed
• Use blank lines as separators
• Four or more minus signs at the beginning of a line make a horizontal rule

Lists

• tab-* for first level
  • tab-tab-* for second level, etc.
• Use * for bullet lists, 1. for numbered lists (mix at will) -- always use 1., it will be renumbered automatically.
• tab-Term:-tab-Definition for definition lists
• One line for each item
• Other leading whitespace signals preformatted text, changes font (see below).

Fonts

• Indent with one or more spaces to use a monospace font:

 This is in monospace

This is not


Indented Paragraphs (Quotes)

• tab-space-:-tab -- often used (with emphasis) for quotations. (See SimulatingQuoteBlocks?)
• If you are going to ConvertSpacesToTabs?, you need to type nine spaces, a colon, and then eight spaces before the text.

Emphasis

• Use doubled single-quotes ('') for emphasis (usually italics)
• Use tripled single-quotes (''') for strong emphasis (usually bold)
• Use five single-quotes ('), or triples within doubles, for some other kind of emphasis (BoldItalicInWiki?)
• Emphasis can be used multiple times within a line, but cannot cross line boundaries

References

• JoinCapitalizedWords? to make local references
• Use back-quotes to AvoidMakingLocalReferences, or separate suffixes (like 's') from WikiName?s. (QwikWiki-specific)

• [1], [2], [3], [4] refer to remote references. Click EditLinks? on the edit form to enter URLs
• Or precede URLs with " http:", "ftp:" or "mailto:" to create links automatically as in: http://britannica.com/
• URLs ending with .gif, .jpg, or .png are inlined if inserted as a remote reference

Mark-Up Language

• Don't bother
• < and > are themselves
• The & characters will not work

Notes

• When a rule says "tab," it wants a tab character without extra spaces around it. See TipForTypingTab? if you have trouble entering tabs.

This page is mentioned on the following pages: FrontPage, GoodStyle, TextFormattingExamples, WikiWikiWebFaq